Monsanto And Cargill: The Thugs Of Big Food

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Just days before the massive global day of action to Occupy our Food Supply, I thought I'd take a look at just who some of these agribusiness thugs really are.

The deeper you dig the more clear it becomes that two corporate giants are responsible for a large part of the poisoning of our food system: Monsanto and Cargill. It’s time we call out these corporate criminals for trashing our food, literally.

When Monsanto began selling its genetically modified Roundup Ready soybeans in 1996, only 2% of soybeans in the U.S. contained their patented gene. By 2008, over 90% of soybeans in the U.S. contained Monsanto's gene and now 80 percent of corn seeds used in the United States are sold by Monsanto. This is especially alarming as soybeans account for the largest source of protein feed and the second largest source of vegetable oil in the world (after palm oil).

Among the many things we can thank Monsanto for: artificial sweeteners linked to cancer; oil-based plastics like styrofoam that never biodegrade and release cancer-causing benzene into the environment for a thousand years; Agent Orange (the deadly chemical cocktail that the U.S. Army dumped over Vietman and now ends up in our food); genetically-modified (GMO) seeds, and the nasty Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), a carcinogenic, artificial growth hormone that is injected into cows (prevalent in the U.S. and banned in all 27 countries of the EU, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia).

With annual revenues of over $119 billion (bigger than the GDP of 70% of the world’s countries ), Cargill is the world’s largest trader of grains, the world’s largest privately held corporationand one of a handful of agribusiness giants that are shaping the increasingly globalized food system to their advantage.Operating in more than 66 countries, Cargill produces, trades, manufactures, and markets all manner of agricultural commodities touching almost every aspect of our food supply. And that’s only the beginning — check this Cargill Fact sheet out and tell me you don’t think it’s time to Occupy Cargill.